In my last post, I talked about how OVM is a methodology for building automated e or SystemVerilog testbenches for Metric Driven Verification (MDV). As it turns out, one of my colleagues, John Nehls from our Verification Core Comp organization, just wrote an article along similar lines, where he goes into a bit more detail, so rather than repeating what he said, I highly recommend reading his article.
As John points out in his article, OVM focuses on the "how" you will go about building your verification environment, where as our Metric Driven Verification methodology focuses on helping you define and measure "what" you need to verify using coverage and check metrics.
As I discussed in my last blog post, MDV has a significant focus on how you determine and capture your verification goals in the form a vPlan and then define and implement coverage and check metrics in your verification environment to track your progress toward executing your verification goals.
We have spent a lot of time working with customers to develop a structured approach to metric driven verification planning. Cadence customers can learn more about MDV as well as all of our verification methodology and flows, including the OVM within our Functional Verification Kits. We have built a complete SoC design which includes an ARM subsystem and many common peripherals which we use to prototype our methodology development and then use this as a methodology knowledge transfer vehicle for our customers. It includes all of the Incisive Plan to Closure Methodology Manuals, but goes beyond that by providing a self-navigation tool, focused workshops, and examples which allow you to focus in on a very specific area of interest like MDV or OVM.
Below is an example of one of the short flash videos that is included in the kit, which gives an overview of the MDV content available. If you are interested in accessing the kit, it is shipped with the Incisive Enterprise Simulator (IES) and also available for separate download on the Cadence Product Downloads Site.